"Camuno-Valtellina" - A new province?

Camonica and Valtellina

Below is an article, which I translated from the 'Bresciaoggi' provincial news source, which details an idea for the possibility of a new Camunian-Valtellinese province. The two cultures are nearly identical. The only difference being the difference in the native dialects. Historically-speaking, Val Camonica has always been politically pulled in the direction of Brescia and the eastern Lombard dialect; while the Valtellina has been pulled in the political direction from Milan and the western Lombard dialect. A topographical view from Google Earth of east Lombardy clearly shows the dramatic difference between the urban sprawl and farmlands of the Po Valley southern flatlands, and the northern mountain valleys. I had to make a few changes and do what I could to make the Italian text make sense in English. It at least gives some idea of the proposal from 2012.

There has long been talk about a "Val Camonica province," but this idea seems interesting as well. The Camunian Valley is about forty miles long north to south; while the Valtelline valley is about twice that distance east to west. The northern Camunian town of Edolo is very close to the Valtelline town of Aprica, with the two connected by a mountain road (SS39) through an elevated mountain valley of small villages, with the official "border" being a mile or less east of Aprica. Val Camonica has always been somewhat used and controlled by the powers that have been over time; while the Italian administrative state wouldn't even give the Valtellina the respect of it's proper name. Instead, it chose one of the main towns of the valley as a political center and carelessly named the entire province after it.


Camunian-Valtellina province, the idea is launched

Lino Febbrari - Bresciaoggi.com - February 14, 2012

THE PROPOSAL. In the two valleys of the initiative, the idea is promoted by cultural associations and political leaders to create an interim authority. Giancarlo Maculotti, Mayor of Cerveno: "For the Mountain territories, a future with only municipalities and regions is unthinkable. If Rome decides to abolish the provinces, the Valcamonica and Valtellina revived, with the proposal to create a new reality that can act as intermediary between the municipalities and the region. The consideration is that Lombardy has a territorial size equal to or greater than other European States. It is therefore not likely that we can change, in one fell swoop, the present institutional bodies."

Now two cultural associations, which held a joint "Tramontani Meeting" in the Oglio Valley, have launched the idea of creating an Alpine province: an intermediate body, which responds to a logic of a new geographically and socially homogeneous area. "What the idea proposes is renewed institutional arrangements, taking into account the mountain areas," states Giancarlo Maculotti--Mayor of Cerveno and key figure of the "Tramontani Meeting." Several parties have stated that the current provinces are outdated, and it is unthinkable that in the future a large and diverse territory of Lombardy, there would only be the region and municipalities without a medium.

Maculotti added that a new political body might actually be a new Alpine province, able to gather and meet the needs of populations living in the mountains. After the launching of the proposal, one may immediately wonder if it is only a dream, or whether the project may actually come into being--focusing on the need for an institutional presence on a particular territory like that. "Of course there are steps to be taken for the idea to produce any results, and then into a very precise Bill that could have legs to walk on" says Maculotti.

It will take time and effort. But if the mountain valleys do not decide to claim institutions which are close to its needs, we will always be lost. To lay the foundations for the desired "Camuno-Valtellina province"--on Saturday, February 18, 2012 in Sondrio (Valtellina) at the Palace of Bim in via Lungo Mallero Diaz--a meeting was held entitled "The mountains speak," with politicians of the two valleys. The theme will then be dealt with again on March 10th in Edolo (Val Camonica). Illustrating the project on this occasion will be the sociologist Aldo Bonomi.

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